Garbodor - Unreserved (Update) [QC 3/3]

- Man, this thing is just so cute hideous.
- All its stats are average, and even though it's offensive movepool is interesting, it doesn't have the stats to use the huge selection of attacks it has at its disposal.
- Still it gets Spikes, and since RU's selection of Spikers is limited, it's at least usable.
- As the only pure Poison-type Spiker in RU (bar it's prevo Trubbish), Garbodor actually does have a niche, since it is actually an arguably more reliable check to Lilligant and Sceptile than Roselia, as it is not hit super effectively by Acrobatics or Hidden Power Fire, and it can also check a selection of Fighting-types in addition to those Grass-types..
- It's not the best Spiker in the tier by any means, but its a cool alternative if your team is particularly weak to Sceptile or Lilligant.

- While Garbodor might seem completely and utterly outclassed by Roselia as a spiker, it has a few nice perks that make it a surprisingly nice alternative to Roselia.
- In particular, thanks to Garbodor's pure Poison typing, it actually is an arguably more reliable counter against Sceptile and Lilligant than Roselia, as it doesn't have to fear Swords Dance Acrobatics or Hidden Power Fire. It also has the ability to OHKO Lilligant regardless of how many Quiver Dances it has accumulated, while Lilligant can actually start to take Sludge Bombs from Roselia pretty easily after a couple Quiver Dances, and Hidden Power Fire actually 2HKOes after just one Quiver Dance.
- Thanks to Clear Smog, Garbodor is also arguably more difficult to set up on.
- While it's not as relevant in this metagame, Garbodor also beats Cryogonal one-on-one unlike Roselia.
- Two Poison-type STAB moves might seem really stupid, but they both serve two different purposes.
- Gunk Shot is Garbodor's main STAB attack; it's Garbodor's best physical STAB move (it doesn't even get Poison Jab lol ), and nabs a solid OHKO on Lilligant, Sceptile, and does massive damage to stuff like Gallade if it hits.
- Clear Smog, on the other hand, is used to help prevent Garbodor from being set up on. Poison is a pretty awful attacking type, and between that and Garbodor's mediocre offensive stats, it's generally pretty easy to set up on. Clear Smog remedies this by removing any stat boosts that the opponent tries to set up against Garbodor, and it gives Garbodor a 100% accurate attack to hit Sceptile and Lilligant with, if you don't want to risk missing multiple times against that 30% Sceptile or Lilligant.
- However, Seed Bomb is also a decent option to hit Kabutops hard, letting Garbodor beat every common spinner in RU bar Sandslash.
- You can even use Drain Punch in the third slot to nail Klinklang, Aggron, Magneton, and those other Steel-types decently hard.
- Pain Split rounds off the set by giving Garbodor a form of recovery, unreliable as it may be.

[ADDITIONAL COMMENTS]

- 252 HP / 168 Def / 88 SpD Sassy always survives +2 Acrobatics from SD Sceptile after switching into Stealth Rock after Black Sludge recovery. Also helps vs Choice Scarf Scyther and Guts Hariyama.
- Alternatively, you can just use max Special Defense to take Leaf Storms from Sceptile better. A Pure physically defensive spread is unrecommended however, as most Fighting-types have a coverage move that hits Garbodor super effectively.
- Toxic Spikes can also be set up by Garbodor, but with Nidoqueen and Drapion being so common, they generally aren't very effective.
- Depending on what you want Garbodor to beat, there's quite a few coverage moves that can be used instead of Gunk Shot; Psychic, Payback, Rock Blast, Body Slam, are all other decent options, but without a STAB boost or Attack investment Garbodor is pretty weak. Garbodor also needs both of his attacks anyway, so its generally not a good idea to replace them.
- You can use Rest over Pain Split if you have cleric support on your team.

Teammates + Counters

- Garbodor's main goal is to set up Spikes, and you don't want those being spun away by RU's Rapid Spinners, so using a spinblocker is recommended. Defensive Rotom makes an excellent teammate, as it is basically the only spinblocker that can potentially stop Kabutops from spinning, bar max Defense Cofagrigus, and deals with Sandslash well too thanks to Levitate. Spiritomb is also a good choice, as it traps the Psychic-types that might want to take out Garbodor. If you're using a stallish team, Cofagrigus is another good choice.
- Since Garbodor sets up Spikes, pairing it with a bulky Pokemon who sets up Stealth Rock is a good idea. Steelix, Rhydon, Golurk (who can also spinblock as well!), Kabutops, Uxie, Mesprit, and Sandslash are all excellent choices. Most of these Pokemon also help check the offensive Steel-types that give Garbodor a lot of trouble.

[Other Options]

- A suicide spiker set can be used with Weak Armor and max Speed, designed to set up as many layers of Spikes before dying. Unfortunately, Smeargle is almost always a better suicide entry hazard user. Still, Garbodor is just as fast as Smeargle, and has a few perks, such as being able to possibly beat Aerodactyl thanks to Rock Blast.
- Haze seems like it'd be awesome, but it's unfortunately illegal with Spikes, which makes it almost worthless seeing as Garbodor's main selling point is its access to Spikes.
- RestTalk is alright if you want a more reliable form of recovery, but Garbodor is still a sitting duck while it's asleep.
- This thing has the weirdest offensive movepool ever... Rock Blast, Psychic, Giga Drain, Seed Bomb, Drain Punch, Thunderbolt, Acid Spray, Dark Pulse, Focus Blast, Sludge Bomb, and Explosion are all viable options, but Garbodor's attacking stats are mediocre.
- Actually, Garbodor isn't that bad of a weather user since it beats Grass-types for Rain teams and checks opposing Chlorophyll Pokemon for Sun teams, while also setting up Spikes and Toxic Spikes.

[Checks and Counters]

- Garbodor has a lot of issues with offensive Steel-types, and is generally a free set up opportunity for them as they're immune to Clear Smog. Klinklang, Escavalier, Magneton, and Aggron therefore give Garbodor a lot of trouble, though they need to watch out for the rare Drain Punch.
- Sandslash is stupid for Garbodor to face since it can spin away any hazards Garbodor sets up and can smash Garbodor with a STAB Earthquake, while Garbodor can't do anything back unless it uses a gimmicky coverage move like Giga Drain. Kabutops is similarly problematic as well, but takes a lot from Seed Bomb and Drain Punch.
- Bulky Substitute users can be problematic since Clear Smog doesn't go through Substitutes, and Gunk Shot's terrible accuracy means the opponent can easily fish for misses. SubCM Uxie and Mesprit, Substitute + 3 attacks Bouffalant, and SubSD Scolipede are all problematic for Garbodor.
- Nidoqueen also has no problem switching into Garbodor and can proceed to fire off powerful attacks.
- In general, anything that resists Poison-type attacks basically has a free switch in against Garbodor, though note that if you let it keep stacking Spikes, you'll have a lot of issues later on in the match.